Amongst the prisoners captured in the fort of Hattrass, search was made
by us for the keeledar, and his friend the negotiator, who had been so
many times in camp; but neither of these gentlemen could be found; and
we naturally concluded they must have escaped on the evening of the
storm; for, strange to say, a great body of cavalry had cut their way
through some of our cavalry piquets. The Europeans saddled the native
corps of Hindostanee horse with this; and they in return threw the blame
on the European cavalry. Some part of this flying enemy, however, passed
the piquet of the 8th Light Dragoons, and several of the brave fellows
of that regiment were wounded in endeavouring to stop them; but I have
no doubt that the main body passed between the right of the 8th Dragoons
and the left of the corps of Captain Badley's horse, between which
flanks there was a wide space and a high-road. This road was watched by
a regiment of native infantry. From the beautiful horses left in the
fort, and the immense number of suits of chain armour we found strewed
about the stables of the cavalry, the whole of the enemy's horse must
have been in mail; so that our cavalry could have made but little
impression, even if they had fallen in with them. By this escape one of
our grand objects was defeated, by the loss of the person of the rebel
governor, who was wanted to answer his rebellion to an offended
government. How it was possible that a single individual could have
escaped such a bombardment, was to us a mystery; for large houses were
literally torn up by the roots. They had thrown a great number of their
dead into a well, and many lay in the ditch, a melancholy and revolting
sight, for the sun had swollen them to an enormous size.
It seems that, the moment any of their children were killed in houses
remote from the well, they were thrown into the street. I counted five
limbless babes in one street.
The day I left camp the maniac widow died; and it is with infinite
pleasure I now bid farewell, for a time, to such distressing scenes.
Deputies from the other forts and dependencies of this rajah had
witnessed the siege _incog._, and were no doubt in camp when the
explosion took place. Not being inclined to risk the same aerial ascent,
or to be entombed, as many hundreds of the poor creatures in Hattrass
had been, they readily surrendered to the wishes of the government. What
had become of Diaram--for that was the rajah's name--we could not
discover; but he was a dangerous man loose in a country like India, and
might do much mischief if he joined the Pindarees, who were then in full
force prowling about the country, not immediately in our provinces, but
lingering on the borders. After some search, this rajah was found with
Nawab Ameer-Khan, an independent chief; and, no sooner had the Company
discovered the place of his residence, than, instead of punishing the
rebel as he deserved, they munificently offered him a pension for
himself and family, if he would reside in our provinces. With these
terms the veteran rajah readily complied, and he is now residing in
affluence, peace, and happiness, under the Company's banner of
protection and shield of faith. I have heard from those who have since
seen him, that his loss in lives at Hattrass was upwards of fifteen
hundred in the fort, besides those in the town. Two of his nephews were
amongst the dead; and he himself encouraged his men in person during the
whole of the siege, and was scarcely ever from the ramparts.
My wound at this time assumed a dangerous appearance. It had been much
irritated by the extraction of several pieces of shattered bone; and, as
the weather at this period grew intensely hot, my doctor advised me not
to travel with the regiment, as he apprehended that the extreme heat,
and the constant shaking of the palanquin, might bring on inflammation.
I therefore the next afternoon left my corps for Cawnpore, some hundred
miles, by dawk,[15] and arrived there about the same time on the
afternoon of the following day. From having been more than
four-and-twenty hours without proper dressing, the whole of my arm, and
indeed all my left side, became much inflamed, and were extremely
painful; but the fond attentions of an affectionate wife, and the
kindness of her good family, soon made me forget my pains and aches.
I had such a home as few were blessed with; and, in the bosom of my
family, I forgot the toils of terrific war. By good nursing and good
medical advice, my wound began to mend apace; but there were still
pieces of bone protruding through the wound, which, however, were in
time extracted by the hand of skill.
The moment I got my hand dressed on the night I was wounded, I took the
precaution of sitting down to communicate the true particulars of the
affair to my family by letter, knowing well what erroneous reports are
often sent to the wives of soldiers, and communicated in the most blunt
and abrupt manner.
In a few days the regiment arrived in cantonments; and in a month or six
weeks I was again on parade with my company, little the worse, except
that I had an ugly and troublesome finger, which was always in the way.
I have since turned it to some use as a true register of the weather;
but, beyond this, I do not think I could even now make it so far useful
as efficiently to pull a man's nose with it.
[Illustration: TRAVELLING ON THE GANGES.
From a Drawing by W. DANIELL, R.A.]
I forgot to mention that, when I went down to visit the fort on the
morning after its fall, the prize-agents were busy on the look-out for
prize property, and to keep our lads from picking and stealing; but, had
there been a thousand of them, all with the eyes of lynxes, this would
have been impossible. I heard that a private of the Company's Foot
Artillery passed the very noses of the prize-agents, with five hundred
gold mohurs (sterling L1,000) in his hat or cap. Several of the men,
when the troops got beyond the power of the prize-committee, boasted of
their plunder; and, indeed, it is not much to be wondered at that men
should make so free as to help themselves, when the dreadful
metamorphosis that prize-money always goes through before it reaches the
pockets of the captors, and the length of time before it is paid, are
considered. All prize property is liable to many diseases and changes,
incidental perhaps to the climate of India. When first taken, it shines
in the full vigour of habit--is of good solid substance--of solidity of
body--current, pure and clear; but in bulk rather protuberant and gross,
and therefore, perhaps, somewhat inclined to be dropsical. Change of
situation is in general resorted to; but the disease has taken fatal
root, and nothing can eradicate the distemper but reduction of the
system. Having been severely drained, and much inflammatory matter
having been expressed, symptoms of decline but too often follow, and the
poor sufferer is left but a shadow, if it escape total extinction. In
this manner the solid substance extracted from the fort of Hattrass
dwindled away, leaving, however, a residue of some L20,000, of which I
pocketed eighty-six rupees; but as I had sold my share for two hundred,
I may be said to have come off tolerably well. We afterwards learned,
from undoubted authority, that immense treasures had been conveyed from
Hattrass. The rajah, aware that he had fallen under the displeasure of
the government, had the precaution to send his principal treasures away,
as also the greater part of his family. This treasure passed through the
city of Agra, the rajah having solicited the civil authorities to permit
the female part of his family to pass through that district to some
distant festival. As the rajah was an ally, this request could not be
refused; and, accordingly, from twenty to twenty-four ruts, containing
the treasures of that potentate, as well as his family, passed through
Agra, to a place of safety.
The station now began to be gay, and nothing but parties, dinners,
balls, suppers, &c., were the order of the day. This routine of gaiety
and festivity was kept up for a considerable time, until the more active
minds began to tire of it. In addition to this, our purses began to
exhibit symptoms of an attack of their old complaints. Mine, in
particular, had had such a regular and confirmed shaking-fit, that the
disease threatened to be vital, unless some immediate remedy was
applied.
The most noble the Marquis of Hastings was on his way up the river to
this station. The object of his voyage up the country was quite secret.
Strange were the surmises, and many of them as ridiculous as they were
strange. Some said Scindia was to be attacked--others, Bhurtpore. His
lordship was very particular and minute in the inspection of the troops
of the upper provinces. The 87th regiment were in excellent order for
service, and I longed to see them as a body again in the field. The
noble marquis was as hospitable as majestic: dinners and drawing-rooms
were now all the go at Cawnpore, and quite astonished the natives. His
lordship's manners were truly winning and devoid of pride. At his
parties he generally selected the greatest strangers to sit next him at
dinner, and was to all extremely affable and condescending. Thus passed
the time till the August following, when his lordship's grand scheme for
the annihilation of the Pindarees was published, and set us all on the
stir. Every one was as busy as trunk-makers, preparing. On every face
was the smile of joy, except on those of affectionate wives, whose
anxieties foreboded numberless ills that were never realized, and
sorrows that never came. Farewell dinners passed in all directions; and,
to wind up the farewell to each other, a station amateur play concluded
the festivities. I played Lord Duberley in the "Heir-at-Law," and Lord
Minikin in "Bon Ton." His lordship seemed highly amused with these
performances, and was pleased to pass some eulogiums on my Lord
Duberley. When the play had concluded, a gentleman came into the
dressing-room, and addressed me thus: "Shipp, if you act your part as
baggage-master, as you have that of Lord Duberley, you will do well."
"Baggage-master!" I replied, "I don't understand you."--"Why," said he,
"you are appointed baggage-master to the left division of the grand
army."
"My dear Sir," said I, "you must be mistaken; for I have not heard a
syllable of the matter." He replied, "You may depend upon it as a fact;
and, to be candid with you, I went to Lord Hastings and asked him for
the appointment, when he himself told me you were already appointed, at
the especial request and wish of Major-General Marshall, in
consideration of your conduct at Hattrass, and of your being the only
officer wounded during that siege."
Had I known this good news before, I would have thrown all the life and
soul of a baggage-master into the character of Lord Duberley. As it was,
no intelligence could be more welcome to me. On the following morning I
wrote to the brigade-major to know if the information was true. He
replied by note that it was, and apologized for having, through
multiplicity of business, forgotten to mention to me that I must join
the left division of the grand army forthwith. They had left Cawnpore
two days before. Being now sure of this good news, I communicated it to
my wife, and fixed the following day for my departure. I then waited on
the noble marquis, to thank him for my preferment. His lordship received
me with great kindness. "Mr. Shipp," said he, "you have no occasion to
thank me, but your own merit, and the kindness of Major-General
Marshall, who requested the appointment of me as a favour conferred on
him." His lordship concluded, "I will not ask you to dine to-day, as you
would in all probability prefer spending the short time you have to
spare with your family." I expressed my grateful sense of his lordship's
kindness, and returned home and spent the day with her whom I loved best
on earth. In the evening I took leave of my brother officers, and on the
following morning, ere the cock crew, I had taken an early breakfast,
and by the time the sun left his slumbering couch I was some miles on my
road, to join the left division of the grand army.
There is a kind of pensiveness by which the human mind is assailed on
separating, though for a short time only, from pleasant acquaintances;
but, when we part from objects bound to us by the dearest ties of love
or consanguinity, an indescribable weight oppresses the heart. I felt
this in parting from the most affectionate of women, to enter on a new
series of wars, perhaps never to behold her again. These thoughts will
intrude, in spite of all one's efforts to repress them, where the heart
feels assured of reciprocal love. If I do not deceive myself, or my
recollection fail me not, I was weak enough to weep on this occasion;
for who could see the wife of his bosom writhing with anguish and
clinging round his neck, whispering sweet words of love and constancy,
and refrain from tears? She had two little sisters, too, who hung about
my knees, crying, "Dear brother, do not go; see how sister cries. Pray
do not go; sister will be ill." I tore myself from the endearing
embraces which restrained me, and rushed out of the house.
[Illustration]
FOOTNOTES:
[15] Travelling by dawk is a very speedy mode of conveyance, well known
in India. The traveller is carried in a palanquin by eight bearers, who
are relieved every ten miles; and by this arrangement a hundred miles
are so certainly performed in twenty-four hours, that from Cawnpore to
Calcutta, a distance of eight hundred miles, is reckoned an eight days'
journey.